Former NPR Chief Admits He Was Wrong on Gun Control

Authors Current Events S.H. Blannelberry
Former NPR Chief Admits He Was Wrong on Gun Control

Former NPR CEO Ken Stern has evolved on gun control.  As he said in a recent interview, “Why are we talking about gun control”?

Ken Stern, the former CEO of NPR, acknowledged recently what many of us already know. Gun control is ineffective.

Stern finally realized this after a trek across America for his new book “Republican Like Me: How I left the Liberal Bubble and Learned to Love the Right.”

During an appearance on “Morning Joe” to promote the book, guest host Willie Guest asked Stern how the trip impacted his stance on the issues.

The former National Public Radio chief mentioned gun control, noting that crime has dropped over the past two decades while gun ownership has spiked.

“The most extraordinary trend in modern American criminal history,” Stern explained. “At the same time, the number of guns have gone up.”

“Those two things aren’t correlated, but it’s clear we know how to drive down gun murders without gun control, and the question is why are we talking about gun control when there’s other things that we’ve been doing for 25 years that actually have reduced murders in this country by an extraordinary amount,” he continued.

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Wow. Talk about a major blow to Everytown for Gun Safety, the Brady Campaign, and the rest of the gun-grabbers out there.  Coming from an NPR alum, that’s gotta hurt.

Stern did hedge his statement a little bit by saying,  he’s “still fine” with certain gun control measures even though they’re not going to have a “major effect” on crime.

Glad to see that he’s coming around to the truth.  Better late than never, right?

Of course, it would’ve been nice for him to have this awakening when he was the head of the nation’s leading nonprofit news organization.  Might’ve had an impact on the way NPR covers the issue.

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  • Barry Soetoroe October 28, 2017, 8:26 am

    Yes – Gun Control does indeed work. It works very well in North Korea. It worked in the USSR. It worked in Mao’s Red China. It worked extremely well in Pol-Pot’s Cambodia, and it worked wonderfully to keep the Jews compliant in 1940’s NAZI Germany. Gun control keeps the people under control…under control of the Government.

  • Tyler October 27, 2017, 3:00 pm

    The ex chief of NPRs revised opinion is hardly a “major blow”. Laughable statement

  • Warner Anderson October 27, 2017, 1:52 pm

    NPR has done very accurate (no pun!) and balanced items on suppressors. And at least not everything is crisis and outrage with them. Anyway, good article!

    • Stan March 19, 2018, 10:46 am

      NPR is NEVER fair & balanced! They are shrewd in not couching their Progressive-Socialist Liberal messages in the same bombastic and shrill way other MSM outlets do. But, make no mistake about it, they are Far Left.

  • David Keith October 27, 2017, 12:32 pm

    I can’t believe this. Amazing! There is one other – a woman writer for the NY times and Mother Jones who admitted that she had made a mistake on ARs causing a lot of deaths. This was a couple of years ago.
    Now the thick headed idiots that form the rest of liberal America need to understand this. If only they occasionally read news that wasn’t from their like minded outlets.

  • JoeThePimpernel October 27, 2017, 9:38 am

    It’s a trap!

    • Wedge October 27, 2017, 12:47 pm

      You’re exactly correct-they are not being asked after they give the answer, “more gun control won’t work” “What, then, would work?” Their answer, in my opinion, would be a “total gun ban-turn them all in, Mr. & Mrs. America.” ala Feinstein. Of course, the media hacks wouldn’t put together and mention that an unarmed populace would be even more ripe for the picking if unarmed, and crime would go through the roof as in Chicongo/Chiraq.

  • Tangiblle October 27, 2017, 9:23 am

    This guy has political pandering down pat. When the Left is in power, he works for the Left. When the Right is ascendent he plays to the Right.
    What he has learned best from his years in WDC is how to grub MONEY.

    • Z October 27, 2017, 10:13 am

      Interesting rant aside from the fact that it’s 100% nonsense. Ken Stern is not a Congressman, never has been. Ken Stern is not a Senator, never was. Ken Stern is a former CEO, not part of the political aparatus of Washington’s DC.
      I’ll tell you what is interesting though. The author of this article thinks that the personal beliefs of news corporations CEO should dictate how news topics are reported on. That’s the antithesis of a free and open press. Journalism shouldn’t be confused with partisan political entertainment such as Hannity, Limbaugh, Alex Jones, Fox, or Guns America.

      • JoeUSooner October 27, 2017, 11:13 am

        “a free and open press” is indeed entitled to its own opinions… but it is NOT entitled to wantonly fabricate its own convenient “facts.”

        • Z October 27, 2017, 1:34 pm

          Are you making a general statement or do you have a specific news story you can cite? What about politicians or presidents or their appointed staff, are they entitled to make up their own, “alternative facts”?

  • Z October 27, 2017, 9:07 am

    NPR always offers a balanced sample of opinions and data on whichever topic they report on. The former CEO wants to sell a book and has adopted the title of Republican. I don’t see how the former CEO repeating a simple statistic would have any bearing on how NPR covered the topic of “gun control” in America considering he held that belief while performing his duties as CEO and in fact that very point was made during various stories in the subject.

    • Jimbo October 27, 2017, 10:17 am

      “NPR always offers a balanced sample of opinions and data on whichever topic they report on.”
      You apparently don’t ever listen to NPR. They are without question one of the most biased media sources I have ever been exposed to.

      • Z October 27, 2017, 11:19 am

        Have you ever listened to Limbaugh, Alex Jones, or Fox? I listen a to variety of news programs and read a broad range of news articles from a variety of sources. You may not like NPR because they don’t outright advocate for your particular perspective on certain issues but they do an excellent job of offering both sides of a story. Truth doesn’t have a bias though your ears may.

        • Peteyraymond October 27, 2017, 11:49 am

          Limbaugh, Jones, & Fox are part of private enterprise. PBS is not. PBS gets most of its funding from the taxpayers. That’s a big difference. And I think it’s YOUR ears that have a bias.

          • Warner Anderson October 27, 2017, 2:08 pm

            Hey, hotshot. NPR gets less than 1% of its funnding from federal, state, or local sources. It it primarily funded by voluntary subscriptions by private citizens, incl shooters like me. Check your facts – as we say in Special Forces, to assume is to f@ck up.

          • Z October 27, 2017, 3:29 pm

            PBS, Public Broadcasting Corporation. Think, Sesame Street.
            NPR, National Public Radio. Think, Science Friday.
            Get your corporations and broadcast medium straight before you attempt a retort.

        • Stan March 19, 2018, 10:52 am

          You are full of it Z! NPR is a Progressive-Socialist Liberal mouthpiece. They Do Not deny it!

      • David Keith October 27, 2017, 12:34 pm

        True.

      • Tom Maddalena October 27, 2017, 1:18 pm

        Exactly… anybody who thinks otherwise needs to see a counselor. NPR is the Voice of Anti-America.

      • Stan March 19, 2018, 10:50 am

        Listen to them everyday, and you are 100% correct! I have repeated contacted them and challenged them on their undisguised bias. They do not deny it!

  • David Perry October 27, 2017, 9:00 am

    As a long time gun owner, Reagan Conservative, and somewhat leaning Libertarian, I actually will switch to listening to NPR for some news tat is relatively unadorned with advertisement. They have a show called “1A” that allows people to apply their First Amendment Rights from different sides about issues, and the moderator, surprisingly and refreshenly, allows both or multiple sides to speak and to speak civilly so we as the citizens can decide. It’s hard to shout too loud on a radio show, so it more resembles a real debate applying critical thought. It;s a nice break from watching people yell at each other on Tucker or Hannity, shows I do like, but can be exhausting when they and their guests get out of control.

  • joefoam October 27, 2017, 8:40 am

    I hope the viewership was especially high for that interview. The more people are educated the better. Maybe they’ll stop listening to the anti gun mantra they hear every day from the main stream media.

  • SuperG October 26, 2017, 10:40 am

    I’m impressed that he didn’t have to become a victim in order to see the truth about gun control. Victimization is usually the cure for the disease of liberalism…if you survive it.

    • Stan March 19, 2018, 10:54 am

      LOL, Liberal groups are Always playing the victim, or claiming victimization for their favorites.

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